Today’s blog is written by Malynn Utzinger, Director of Integrative Practices, and Tim Weitzel, ESI Architect.
Optimism sometimes gets a bad rap. Many people associate optimism with a sugar-coating of reality or a blind faith that all will be well. Worse, there are brands of optimism which imply that we have the power to transform the conditions of our lives through positive thinking alone, regardless of their deep-seated and/or systemic origins. However, evolving research and our own field work suggests that psychologically mature optimism, a pillar of emotional and social intelligence (ESI), is not only useful as a life-orientation, it is the gateway to self-actualization.
